The coronavirus pandemic continues to grapple both the world and the markets. This didn’t change throughout the week, as the death toll and number of infected individuals continued to grow. However, the mood on the street brightened despite poor economic data, because a variety of stimulus measures by the Federal Reserve (and other central banks) plus the Senate were announced. Wall Street was pleased that policymakers were pulling out all the stops in order to stem the damage and economic fallout from the historic outbreak.
Data reported showed that COVID-19 is starting to hit the economy in a major way. Stay-at-home orders, quarantines and continued layoffs/shutdowns have impacted data on a variety of fronts.
At the same time, corporations have started to lower earnings estimates, with some industries even requesting bailouts.
However, with the stimulus measures beginning to trickle in, traders were able to look past the volatility in the market, which sent stocks predominately higher on the week.
Be sure to check out our previous Wrap here, when volatility surged.
